Here’s a look at what entertainment-industry insiders are saying about Alibaba’s recent moves:

Alibaba’s entry into China’s entertainment industry “makes perfect sense,” said Charlie Moretti, founder of Bright Shadow Films in Shanghai. “There is a fundamental sense that there is a huge opportunity for the taking, and we are so big we can have it.”

“Most people, even traditional filmmakers, see this as a good thing,” said Li Qing, director of the motion picture division of Beijing-based ESA Cultural Investment Corp. Because China’s movie industry is still young, “you need people with different backgrounds to get into the industry and improve it,” said Mr. Li.

“All these Internet companies transform themselves into this business model, and it helps to grow the industry,” says Zhang Zhao, the chief executive of Le Vision Pictures, one of the producers of Old Boys, originally a short film that went viral after airing on Chinese video portal Youku in 2010 and that is now being turned into a big-screen movie. Still, “I don’t think the transformation of the traditional business model into an Internet-based one has a lot to do with capital,” he said. “You can’t just throw capital at the industry.”

“From what I can tell about the moves (Alibaba is) making, what they’re doing is something that no other media company in the world has ever done, being involved in the entire supply chain from investment and production of content all the way to distribution and licensing and marketing of the content brand,” said Christopher DeHau Lee, founder of Move Eye Media, an independent production consultancy.

Alibaba’s entry into the entertainment industry “is a way to capitalize on all those eyeballs (from their online shopping sites) and leverage that to market to them through all their different platforms,” said Noah Weinzwig, an executive producer at Ten Eighty Productions in China.

“My biggest surprise is that they took so long to get into the film business,” said Christopher Chen, an executive producer at Calypso Entertainment in Beijing. “I thought that Alibaba was going to be one of the early movers.”